News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup

Utah Nixes Tax Credits, But Other Changes Pass

Utah's legislature passed a multifaceted package of education policy
changes last week, after stripping the measure of a controversial
proposal to allow tax credits for private school tuition.

The measure was quickly approved on the legislature's last day,
March 5. It would require students to demonstrate competency before
progressing to another grade, and would put in place new graduation
requirements. It also would set up new systems for professionals from
outside education to become certified teachers, and would allow schools
more flexibility in following union rules in hiring teachers and other
staff members.

The package would be paid for by a three-year, $97 million increase
in income taxes. Gov. Michael O. Leavitt, a Republican, was reviewing
the bill last week. He had threatened to veto the legislation if the
tuition- tax-credit language was included.

The tax-credit plan would have provided annual income-tax credits of
$2,132 to offset the cost of private school tuition, and allowed
credits for donors that made contributions to scholarship funds for
private schooling. The plan died after supporters determined they did
not have enough votes in the House.

The tax-credit proposal had passed the Senate, but school
administrators and the state teachers' union lobbied hard against it.
Supporters said they would bring the proposal back next year.

—Joetta L. Sack

90 Percent of Mass. Seniors Have Passed Graduation Test

Ninety percent of Massachusetts students in the class of 2003 now
have passed the English and math sections of the state test required
for graduation starting this year, state officials announced last
week.

The 6,058 seniors who have not yet passed will have another chance
to take the exams in May and again this summer after participating in
extra-help programs, said Gov. Mitt Romney in releasing the test
results for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.

"I have a message for those students who have not yet passed the
MCAS," he said. "We will not give up on you, and you should not give up
on yourself."

But critics noted that nearly half those who failed were members of
minority groups. While 94 percent of white students in the class of
2003 have passed both sections of the test, that's true for only 75
percent of black and 70 percent of Hispanic youngsters. The latest
results reflect a retest given in December to roughly 10,500 high
school seniors who had yet to pass the 10th grade exam.

Several district superintendents said the passing rates did not
reflect reality because state officials used outdated enrollment
counts. The state figures are based on 12th grade enrollment data from
Oct. 1 of last year. Since then, the education department has said
certain groups of students—such as seniors in adult education
programs—don't have to pass the MCAS exams.

Gov. Romney, a Republican, said his budget calls for $53 million in
MCAS remediation funds, including $3 million for community colleges to
devise pathways for students who do not pass the MCAS by the end of
high school.

—Lynn Olson

Poll Finds Some N.J. Parents Feel Unwelcome in Schools

Urban and minority parents in New Jersey are far more likely to feel
unwelcome in their children's schools than suburban parents in the
state, a survey shows.

The study of attitudes about parental involvement in the state's
schools, released Feb. 26, shows that 20 percent of suburban parents in
New Jersey feel unwelcome in their children's schools, compared with 44
percent of urban parents.

Three-quarters of parents said they are often asked to do menial
tasks when volunteering at school and would like to have more
meaningful involvement.

When asked if they would help in local schools, 91 percent of
respondents from minority groups said they would, compared with 77
percent of white respondents. Eighty-nine percent of those whose
primary language is not English said they would like to volunteer,
compared with 78 percent of native English-speakers.

The telephone poll of 600 New Jersey adults, conducted late last
summer, was released by New Jersey United for Higher School Standards,
an advocacy group of business and education leaders. The margin of
error for its overall sample is 4 percentage points.

—Catherine Gewertz

Former Ohio Facilities Chief Criticized for Accepting Gifts

The former head of Ohio's school construction commission accepted
gifts from contractors and approved an improper building contract,
according to a report filed by the state's inspector general.

But the seven-month investigation of the three-member Ohio
Facilities Commission found no evidence that its former executive
director, Randall A. Fischer, had steered contracts or engaged in other
criminal wrongdoing.

Inspector General Thomas P. Charles referred his findings to the
Ohio Ethics Commission because Mr. Fischer filed three years of
financial-disclosure statements late and retroactively reported gifts
he had received.

The report criticizes Mr. Fischer for fostering an atmosphere that
it contends allowed commission employees to accept meals, tickets to
sporting events, gifts, and golf outings from people doing business
with the commission.

Charles R. Saxbe, Mr. Fischer's lawyer, said the report essentially
clears his client of many allegations. "There is absolutely no evidence
of any favoritism or contract steering," Mr. Saxbe said last week.

Mr. Fischer, who announced his resignation last summer after the
inspector general launched the investigation, has said he has done
nothing wrong. He repaid contractors for free rounds of golf.

—Karla Scoon Reid

Maryland Grants Districts Leeway In Making Up for Snow Days

Maryland's state board of education will allow school districts to
shorten the academic year because of the number of cancellations for
snow.

The board voted unanimously on Feb. 25 to give state Superintendent
Nancy S. Grasmick the authority to waive the state's law requiring at
least 180 days of school.

The Garrett County school board in the state's northwestern corner
will be eligible to shorten its year by three days. School districts in
the rest of the state will be allowed to cut out two days.

Districts around the state have missed 10 or more days because of
the unusually high number of snowstorms in the state, including a
Presidents' Day storm that shut down most schools for a week.

Even with waivers, many districts will need to make up three to five
days, according to Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for the Maryland
Department of Education. Strategies include lengthening the school day
or year, scheduling school on holidays, shortening spring break, and
canceling planned professional-development days.

When considering applications for waivers, Ms. Grasmick "wants to
make sure they're doing their level best to keep as many instructional
days as possible," Mr. Reinhard said.

—David J. Hoff

Conn. Desegregation Plan Gets Nod From Legislators

A settlement plan in Connecticut's 14-year-old school desegregation
lawsuit now needs just one more approval: that of the judge overseeing
the case.

The plan calls for opening, over the next four years, eight new
Hartford-area magnet schools that would seek to reduce racial isolation
by drawing students from throughout the region.

Lawmakers approved the proposal despite concerns by some about the
price tag: $45 million in operating funds, plus an estimated $90
million for construction. Late last month, Connecticut enacted a
package of tax increases and spending cuts to fill a $650 million
deficit in its current budget of about $13 billion.

Approval by the Senate of the Sheff settlement is not
required. The two sides in the case are moving ahead with the last step
by filing papers seeking the assent of Superior Court Judge Julia L.
Aurigemma.

—Jeff Archer

Calif. Cartoon Perceived As Offensive to Latinos

EdFund, an arm of the California Student Aid Commission, is spending
$12,000 to reprint a newsletter about college financial aid after some
people found a cartoon in the original printing to be offensive.

In its publication for college-bound high school students, "Life
101," an article about stretching one's dollars in college is
illustrated with a cartoon of a girl wearing a mini-sombrero and
reading an economics textbook while working at "Taco Town."

EdFund didn't intend to make the girl in the cartoon look Latina,
according to Becky Stilling, the president of EdFund. The girl has red
hair and peach-colored skin in the publication. But when EdFund
reproduced the cartoon in black and white on plastic bags distributed
to students, "she looked dark-complected," Ms. Stilling said.

The director of an outreach program for students in northern
California had complained to EdFund. "My understanding of her complaint
was that the image stereotyped Latino students as working for low wages
and struggling in a fast-food kind of job," said Ms. Stilling.

Ms. Stilling said she pulled the cartoon because she didn't want
anyone to think that EdFund didn't respect ethnic diversity. She said
EdFund plans to establish a diverse editorial board to preview future
EdFund materials.

—Mary Ann Zehr

Vol. 22, Issue 26, Page 21

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